By DAWNE LEIKER

dleiker@dailynews.net

A scorching July day of preparing ribs, pulled pork and briskets, turned into an evening of marinating and seasoning, and then a night of barbecuing and smoking.

Members of 25 teams hit Municipal Park Friday to compete in the Kansas City Barbeque Society sanctioned competition. Judging took place Saturday starting at noon.

"We're excited. We're hoping the competition will continue to grow," said Downtown Hays Development Corp. Director Sabrina William.

"All the teams seem to like the set-up here at the park. They all seem excited to be here," she added.

Members of the general public milled throughout the contest grounds, enjoying barbecue sold by vendors, checking out the vintage cars on display and listening to area musicians.

Competitors gathered from Littleton, Colo., Paola, Lindsborg, Salina, Junction City, Garden City, Hays and Grainfield, and represented a wide variety of demographics, from young professionals to retirees.

Ranging from weekend backyard barbecue enthusiasts to professional competitors, each team shared the primal urge to cook meat outside with fire.

Local team, Shorty's BBQ and Hays Quality Meats comprised of Chris Schumacher and Paul Jones, won the Hays competition two years ago and took fourth place last year.

Schumacher said he was glad to see the event sanctioned by the KCBS because that would allow the Hays winner to to qualify for the American Royale competition in Kansas City in October.

Competing in barbecue events can prove an action-packed effort as judging time nears.

"Once you get down to the end when you start turning things in, it gets pretty hairy," Schumacher said. "It really gets your adrenalin pumping."

Smokers and grills used by the competitors at the Hays event varied greatly. Some teams used commercial-grade smokers, others used Traeger grills, and some had created cooking devices only seen in a backyard chef's wildest imagination.

Dan Pfannenstiel of Hays, entered the competition using a cooker fabricated by Gene Gottschalk, High Plains Machine Works Inc.

The cooker, built to Pfannenstiel's specifications "from the ground up," not only has a smoker, but a steamer, stone pizza oven, fryer from the Brookville hotel, lights, warming trays from the old Hadley Hospital and gas lines running underneath.

"I've been barbecuing for many, many years," Pfannenstiel said. "There's always good eats... and it's just a lot of fun."

Pfannenstiel, like many of the competitors, has used his cooking talents for community fundraisers and to help out a variety of causes.

One of the teams working to support a cause through cooking was the team of Keith Overland and Bill Johnson, Garden City. In addition to competing throughout the state, the duo spend many weekends cooking for soldiers returning from Iraq in cooperation with the All American Beef Battalion.

Johnson estimated they have volunteered for 40 cooking events across the nation. Founded by Bill Broadie of Ashland, All American Beef Battalion has fed about 45,000 returning soldiers and is dedicated to the mission of feeding every serviceman and woman a steak dinner.

"We go out every week, all the way from California to Missouri," Overland said. "It's 100 percent funded by donations. We don't take anything for what we do."